Improvement in bases for artificial teeth



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE DIEFFENBAOH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BASES FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,9l6, dated April 13, 1858.

F0 all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, GEORGE DIEFFENBACH, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Base for Artificial Teeth; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention and of its application.

The substances at present in use, or the use of which has been attempted, for the purpose of forming a base for artificial teeth are metals, ivory, hippopotam us, and gutta-percha. My experience in dentistry having shown to me the serious disadvantages couseq uent upon the use of the said materials for the said purpose, I deem it necessary in the first place to detail these injurious effects as follows:

First. All metals being good conductors of heat, cause a disagreeable sensation of chill in the month by their rapid absorption of its natural heat.

Second. The perpetual contact of every metal with parts of the mouth causes a disagreeable taste, an unnatural excitement of the glands, an increased secretion of the saliva, and with some persons a weakening of the nervous system.

Third. Most of the metals oxidize by the action of the stomach-acid. Platina is an exception to this rule; but its great weight makes its retention in the mouth a matter of great difficulty.

Fourth. The proper shape of a metallic base for artificial teeth not being obtainable by a direct process, is inexact in many cases, and its retention in the mouth, as well as its service in chewing, is thereby rendered extremely difficult.

Fifth. All metals used for this purpose are liable to bend and to lose their original shape by a continued uge in the mouth.

Sixth. Ivory, hippopotamus, and guttapercha are injuriously effected by the saliva, they frequently require renewals, and emit, moreover, a disagreeable odor.

These defects have induced me to invent a composition of matter which may be worn in the month without being liable to any of the injurious effects above enumerated. The idea soon suggested itself to me that amber was free from all these defects; but I found it too brittle to be formed into the proper shapes. I have therefore endeavored by an extended series of observations and experiments to form a composition of matter inwhich amber was cible (the inside of which ought to be glazed) over a soft-coal fire. the intensity of which is gradually increased until the amber begins to melt, when it is agitated until the whole of the pulverized amber is molten. I then take linseed-oil and pour the same while in a boiling state into the molten amber and agitate the mixture. I then remove it from the fire, but continue to stir it until it becomes cool. In this state the composition, although less brittlethan pure amber, does not possess the tenacity requisite for my purpose. I therefore add purified pulverized sulphur, and mix the whole well together. I then put the same in an iron retort, and apply heat to the same until the whole mass is gradually hardened. I deem it proper to state that I have found steam heat the most advantageous for my purpose, and that bringing the retort in direct contact with the fire somewhat injures the result; and I will further remark that I have varied the proportions of these ingredients, butI have found the following to besufficiently accurate for my purpose: I take to one pound of amber, one-half pound of prepared linseedoil, and two ounces of sulphur. I have named linseed-oil and sulphur because they are the cheapest substances known to me toeffect the desired end. Oaoutchouc may be added in small quantities without impairing the result but I do not claim such addition as any part of my invention. I am also enabled to impart to the above-described composition any color that may be deemed desirable by the ad mixture of proper pigments during the process of preparation. I use this composition to form the following parts of the mouth, namely: the gum, the alveola, (maxilla inferior,) the palate,

(maxilla superior,) and thejawthus acquirin g a complete base for artificial teeth.

I make these articles in the following manner: I take an impression in wax or in plasterof-paris of that part of the mouth which I wish to imitate. I then pour fluid plaster into that impression (with the usual precaution for separation) and leave it therein until dry. Thereby I obtain the original mold. I then arrange and fasten the requisite number of artificial teeth on this mold, which is now ready to receive the hot composition, consistingofamber, linseed-oil, gutta-perch a, and sulphur, as above described. This is now put into the model andits thickness regulated as desired. I then put the plaster model, with its contents,into the retort above described, leaving it there until fully hardened. When removed the artificial base is complete in form and in substance.

It will be seen that I obtain my ultimate form direct from the original mold, (whereas the use of metals requires the original mold to be formed in sand and cast in a metal which has to be recast in a softer metal, called the female mold, which is separated from the other, and the sheet metal for the base is put between the two molds and hammered or stamped between them.)

The great usefulness of this invention for dental purposes, and its superiority over the existing methods of forming a base for artificial teeth, consists in the following points:

First. The amber composition is tasteless, it causes no excitement of the glands,it creates an agreeable feeling in the mouth, and emits no odor.

Second. The contact between the amber composition and the mouth is not injurious to health and acts as preventive against some diseases-such as inflammation of the throat, 860.

Third. Being a bad conductor ofheat, it does not cause sudden feelings of cold in the mouth.

Fourth. It is not liable to oxidation, corrosion, or solution by the action of the stomachacid or the saliva.

Fifth. It is capable of bearing extreme degrees of heat and cold without suffering any injury therefrom.

Sixth. It can be easily cast into any shape suitable to themouth,it is not liable to bend, it always retains its form, and for these reasons it affords great security for itsretention in the mouth and increased facility in chewing.

Seventh. Being enabled to firmly unite the artificial teeth with this composition without the use of any other cement or solder, by unitin g them before the composition becomes hardened I obtain a compact body and avoid pores between the teeth and their base.

' Eighth Itischeaper than mostof the metals.

Witnesses OHs. WEHLE, JOHN MOODY. 

